which dac?

bel canto YES i have owned their product for sometime now and love the dac especially...

Hmm--you own an Apollo? That's a very fine CD player.

I've owned both the Apollo and a Bel Canto DAC2. The BC DAC is wonderful, but I can't say that it was superior to the Apollo -- just different. I haven't heard BC's new DAC3. One thing worth noting -- when I used the DAC2, it benefited greatly from a good interconnect between transport and DAC. I started with a 75-ohm Canare cable, which worked fine, but the sound improved when I used a Kimber Illuminati cable.

If you're basically happy with the Apollo, maybe you'd like to move up the Rega line to the Saturn?

Dodson 218 if you can swing it (and find a used one), or 217 MkII, which also was great. These have stood the test of time in my system. They don't do anything wrong and a lot right.

Nglazer

Gilman61255

make a decision yet?

Bob R
What JA said was the BC3 was the best 'DAC he'd yet measured'... NOT the best DAC yet. He pointed to the Weiss, and one other 5 or 6 times the BC3's price tag.

...and disporportionately compared the BC3 to the Benchmark. I guess there aren't too many DACs in the mid 2K slot for comparisons sake... but then he owns the Benchmark and likes to compare it to about anything... as he did with the Lavry Blue as well. Talk about disporportionate comparisons!

Personally, the Lavry DA 10 is a fine sounding unit. IMO

Blindjim,
Too bad you're not closer. I would loan my Bel Canto Dac 3 to you, so you could do some comparisons. Honestly I don't think there is a such thing as the best. I do believe you'd like the BC3. Whether you'd like it over the Lavry I do not know. I will say the BC3 is a seriously good sounding Dac. It will make you think twice about spending more on a digital front end. If nothing else comparing the two would be fun!

Gmood1

Thanks for the offer. folks in my neck of the woods aren't nearly as forthcoming... in fact I've yet to meet but one that was willing to bring a thing over for me to hear/audition, and that was so he could possibly sell it. I don't get the why of it actually, but I've long since quit wondering. Southern hospitality doesn't extend itself to audio perhaps.

"I'm an island in a sea of make believe."

Sure hope you're right... or not. One should be here late today. With any luck at all, it'll be in one piece.

Too bad it's on the heels of the Lavry's necessary departure. Times up.

The BC3 needs be mighty impressive to out run the DA 10, IMO.

I had some concerns over the Lavry's bass but it finally came out to a respectable level. What does go on in the rest of the bandwidth and the reclocking facility it has makes for one quite enjoyable time with this little gadget... without respect to any genre of music it simply did a great job. I've played all sorts of music on or through it, and it's improvements made to the sound are just too noticeable to miss.

I understand the BC3 does even better with the jitter reduction... so if the presentation is as good or better than the DA10's, and the volume feature is as nice... well... for my situation, then I'd bite the bullet on the cost overruns and keep it. Other's may well not so easily justify the added costs... all else being either marginally better performance USB INTERFACE, and the benefit of remote volume control.

Hmmm. A pretty tuff call I think. ONe can buy a lot of ??? for around $800 to $1500 difference... preowned or new.

Hi Jim..I've shipped several of my components off for others to audition. I found very nice audiophiles in New York and southern Florida that did the same. I had a chance to hear equipment I would have never heard because of them. There are some trusting audio heads out there...probably not many though.

I agree there's a sea of gear in the price range. What sealed it for me was the digital preamp and Dac combo. I wanted silence and pitch black between the notes. The BC3 does that very well! I'm not crazy about the cheesy remote , but hey you can't have it all right.

I was also afraid I wouldn't be able to find an active preamp as quiet or as transparent in this price range.
If there is one more transparent..I haven't heard it or seen it. One of my pet peeves is hum and hiss, I just can't live with it in my system.

Gilman61255

Not sure what your tastes in music range to or what sort of sound you are seeking either...

The DA 10, in a word, is "musically involving"... the BC DAC 3 (after only a few minutes listening) is in a whole other world... containing far more resolution & therefore better imaging. it has better bass too. of course, that's the right out of the box playing for a few hours notes.

if these characteristics continue and maybe even improve it may be worth it's salt.

two DACs... two price points... two different perspectives on the music completely. Choices... choices.. choices... huh?